INTERNAL ASSIGNMENT APPLICABLE FOR JUNE 2021 EXAMINATION

COURSE: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

ANSWER 1.

INTRODUCTION
The GLOBE Study, i.e. Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness, is a research project
launched in 1991. It is similar to Hofstede's research. It acknowledges and studies the complex relationship
between culture, leadership behaviour, organisational effectiveness, social cohabitation and the economic
success of various societies across the world.
It was based on the foundation that different cultures have different and unique attributes. Its objective was to
recognise attributes that could be used to predict an appropriate and effective organisational and leadership
practice within a culture.

CONCEPT & APPLICATION

As per the GLOBE Study, leadership acceptance is a function of the interaction between culturally endorsed
implicit leadership theories (CLTs) and leadership attributes and behaviour. Knowledge and awareness of
these distinct cultural values can empower leaders & managers to control and resolve intercultural conflict
and interactions efficiently.
The GLOBE study found eight core dimensions of culture in different societies, and they're as follows:
• Power Distance
It indicates the degree of inequality that persists and is accepted by the people of that country. In
countries where there's a high power distance, uneven and hierarchical power distribution is accepted
by people. Whereas in countries with a low power distance, power is evenly dispersed, people question
authority and attempt to distribute power
• Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty avoidance indicates the degree of tolerance towards uncertainty and ambiguity in a
society. It discovers the extent to which individuals in the community feel threatened by an ambiguous
or unknown situation and their reflexes, beliefs and institutions to avoid these circumstances. Nations
that score a high degree on this index prefers strict codes, conduct, guidelines and laws. These nations
are rigid, conservative and well structured. Countries like Belgium and Poland score high on this
dimension.
• Performance Orientation
Performance orientation indicates the degree to which innovation, quality performance, group work
are encouraged and rewarded. Countries that score high in this dimension value materialism,
competitiveness, and job training to improve performance.
• Assertiveness
Assertiveness indicates the degree to which individuals are powerful, influential, confrontational, and
aggressive, as against cooperative and compassionate. Countries that score high in this dimension
follow a direct and transparent approach. They encourage individual initiatives, and relationships are
driven by competition. On the contrary, in countries with low assertiveness, managers seek consensus
and cooperative decision making.
• Future Orientation
The degree to which delayed gratification of short term needs and planning for the future are valued is
called future orientation. Countries that score high in this dimension promote planning and investing
for the future over immediate consumption. On the contrary, Countries that score high in this
dimension promote spontaneity and living in the present.
• Humane Orientation.
The degree to which fair-mindedness, altruism, generosity, and kindness are valued, encouraged and
rewarded is called human orientation. In countries that score high in this dimension, people are
responsible for endorsing the welfare of others as against providing social and economic support.
 • Institutional Collectivism.
The degree to which organisational & societal establishments persuade people to be integrated into
groups and organisations. Countries that score high in this dimension encourages collective
distribution & collective action. Group loyalty is promoted, even if it compromises the pursuit of
individual goals.
• In-Group Collectivism
The degree to which people express pride, fidelity and cohesion in their organisations and families is
called in-group collectivism. In countries with high scores in this dimension, individuals associate with
their families, organisations and duties. The behaviour of individuals is determined by obligations.
• Gender Egalitarianism
The degree to which male and female are treated as equals is called gender egalitarianism. Countries
with a high score in this dimension offer more opportunities to women & have more women as office
bearers or in positions of power than countries low on this dimension where women generally have
lower status at work and culture.

Six global leadership behaviours used in the GLOBE study to understand the perception of leadership in
a particular society are as follows
• Charismatic/Value-Based Leadership
It is a leadership dimension that reflects the ability to inspire, motivate, sacrifice, trust and expect high-
performance outcomes from others built on solid core values.
• Team-Oriented Leadership
It is a leadership dimension that promotes a collaborative and integrative approach, effective team
building and execution of a common purpose among team members
• Participative Leadership
It is a leadership dimension that reflects how managers involve others in making and implementing
decisions.
• Humane-Oriented Leadership
It is a leadership dimension that reflects supportive, generous, compassionate and considerate
leadership.
• Autonomous Leadership
It is a leadership dimension that reflects unique, independent, individualistic leadership attributes.
• Self-Protective Leadership
It is a leadership behaviour that is self-centric and status-conscious and ensures the safety of the leader
and group through status enhancement and face-saving.

A few leadership attributes may be incompatible with CLT, while few others may not be so. The leadership
attributes that are compatible with CLT will be more accepted than others.
CONCLUSION
Societal culture has a direct impact on organisational culture. The findings from the GLOBE study benefits
managers to understand the significant influence of culture on society's leadership expectations. It also helps
the manager understand the importance of matching their behaviours to the leadership expectations within
each society. The knowledge and understanding of this relationship enable managers to have a positive impact
on employee performance. That is how the GLOBE study help managers across the world understand the
complex relationship between culture and organisations success.

ANSWER 2
INTRODUCTION
Teamwork can be defined as the combined effort of a group of people using their unique skills, knowledge
and expertise to achieve organisational goals and complete tasks effectively and efficiently. Individuals
flourish when clubbed as a team because they bring their exceptional core competencies and develop new
ones while coming up with the solution. Teamwork entails shared roles, responsibility, tasks and assignment.
The entire team is accountable for the work as a whole, and it works on the principle of mutual accountability.
CONCEPT & APPLICATION
PROBLEMS IN TEAMWORK
Working of a team is quite similar to the working of a chain; it can only be strong and effective if all its
link (i.e. team members) are strong (i.e.equipped with the essential skills, knowledge and expertise). Even
if one of its links is weak, it can disrupt harmonious functioning and cause a significant problem.
• Communication
An occurrence of a gap or barriers while communicating among team members can affect teamwork
significantly. Ineffective communications in a team can cause friction, frustration, tension and
confusion wherein people are not inspired to collaborate and work as a group.
• Personal Variables
No two people are alike. Personal variables refer to an individual's personality, attitude and values.
These variables can often clash and cause individual differences, which may function as a source of
conflict.
• Change
Change can give rise to conflicts. It would occur in a scenario where individuals or groups might be
resistant to adapt to any new change in the organisation.
• Goal Conflict
These conflicts arise when there are disagreements over goals between two or more individuals or
groups. Failing to resolve the conflicts could hurt the productivity and overall morale of the team.
• Behaviour
Behaviour points to any extreme action of an individual, whether defensive or offensive, that can
ignite a conflict in a team environment.
• Difference in Values
All individuals have a different value system to which they are emotionally devoted. A person's
sentiments may collide with another, which may cause conflict in a team.
• Unrealistic Expectation
These are the unrealistic expectations that managers have from employees. These can act as a major
demotivating factor for employees and cause conflict between team members and managers.

APPROACH TO OVERCOME
An effective team is driven to create synergy, i.e. bringing about an outcome that is greater than the sum
of outcomes produced via individual contributions to achieve the aim and objective of forming the team.
The following measures can be taken to form an effective team and overcome all the problems that might
take place during teamwork:
• Clear Goals
Organisations should be clear to all the team members about their goals and make sure that all the team
members recognise their job responsibilities and work in accordance to achieve effectively and
efficiently
• Relevant Skills
It is important to consider relevant skills while forming a team so that it becomes easier to attain team
goals.
• Mutual Trus
An environment advocating mutual trust should be created. Trust amongst the team members can foster
coordination. It can promote productivity and create a healthy working condition for individuals.
• Unified Commitment
All team members should operate on a shared vision of achieving organisational goals and work
together towards attaining the same.
• Good Communication
An organisation should facilitate and foster a culture of healthy and open communication amongst the
team members to avoid communication gaps and miscommunication. There should be a suitable
communication channel in place to let the individuals express themselves freely.
• Negotiation Skills
The team members should be equipped with negotiating and bargaining skills to claim the mandatory
resources from the management to unhindered efficiency in work.
 • Appropriate Leader
The appointment of the leader should be made as per the requirement of the situation.
• Internal Support
All individuals in the team should support each other by leveraging their interpersonal skills. Support
from within the team can boost morale and increase coordination and productivity.
• External Support
External support is just as important as internal support. A team should also get support from non-
members of the team, such as top management, for attaining the desired goal without any difficulty in
the required time.
• Avoid Pressurising
Efforts should be made to minimise group pressure and dominance of a few members on the whole
team as this can suppress free thought or generation of some great ideas.
• Avoid Politics
Workplace politics is behaviour involving power and authority in human interactions. It can be
counterproductive to the organisation goals.

CONCLUSION
A team is a formal group encompassing two or more individuals responsible for the achievement of common
goals. Teamwork can facilitate efficiency and productivity in an organisation. Still, some issues like
miscommunication, conflicts of interest, values and goals, personal variables etc., can prove to be
counterproductive to the organisation. The manager should mitigate these issues by clearly communicating
the goals, allocating an appropriate leader, avoiding politics and excessive pressure, providing, minimising
competition etc. To lighten the work environment in the team, the manager should organise some team
building activities, fun games that should motivate team members to build strong relationships.

ANSWER 3.
3A.
INTRODUCTION:
Reinforcement is defined as a process that attempts to strengthen and develop desirable behaviour by
controlling the consequence associated with the behaviour. B.F. Skinner, also known as 'the father of
psychology' and his associates, developed the reinforcement theory. Reinforcement also helps in
understanding the mechanism that influences individual behaviour. Therefore, it is widely used to motivate
and retain employees.

CONCEPT AND APPLICATION

Learning through reinforcement is one of the most ancient and widely used approaches that organisations
practice to change the individual's behaviour. It is also known as behaviour modification. In behaviour
modification, learning is dependent on the environment. It states the environment instructs an individual to
change their behaviour to maximise the positive consequence and minimise undesirable behaviour.
Behaviour modification involves three stages:
• Antecedents (A)
Antecedents are the incidents that happen before the behaviour depicted by an individual. For example,
an employee has been told to submit quarterly reports to the top management by midnight. The
employee knows his action will entail consequences.
• Behaviour (B)
Behaviour is the response of the individual to the antecedent. In this case, The employee will either
start performing the given task or explain why it cannot be done.
• Consequences (C)
It is the result of the response taken by an individual. Using the example mentioned above, if the
employee delivers the work by midnight, he may be praised for the work done. Whereas, if the
employee explains why the work can not be delivered in the given time, it may upset the manager and
lead to scolding. If the consequence is positive (praise), the employee is likely to repeat that behaviour.
If the consequence is negative (scolding), the employee is likely to modify the behaviour causing it.
Reinforcement is defined as a process that increases the likelihood of certain kind of behaviours in an
individual. Reinforcement theory illustrates how somebody learns to behave in a particular way.
It has the following elements
• Positive Reinforcement
It is the positive encouragement or consequences provided on the display of desired response. Positive
reinforcement increases the frequency of a particular behaviour.
• Negative Reinforcement
It refers to the withdrawal of an unpleasant consequence on the display of the desired behaviour.
Negative reinforcement increases or strengthens a particular behaviour.
• Punishment
It is an undesired behaviour following an unwanted or uncomfortable consequence. It does not directly
enforce positive behaviour but discourages the repetition of unsought behaviour.
• Extinction
It is the complete absence of reinforcement, be it positive or negative, to reduce undesirable behaviour
results.

CONCLUSION
Behaviour modification theory captures the art of modifying and moulding human behaviour. It is a conscious
effort by the organisations to reinforce each action that drives an individual towards or away from a desired
or undesired behaviour, respectively. B. F. Skinner demonstrated that behaviour could be shaped through
reinforcement and punishment. Behavioural modification is rooted in the fact that behaviour depends on
consequence and focuses on inducing desirable behavioural patterns in an individual that would benefit the
organisation. Therefore, reinforcement is also called behaviour modification theory.

3B.

INTRODUCTION
Reinforcement is a process of developing or strengthening desired behaviour. B.F Skinner argued people learn
to exhibit a few behaviours on the basis of what happens to them as a result of their behaviour. The theory is
based on influencing behaviour by controlling the consequences associated with the behaviour. A combination
of reward and punishment are used to strengthen wanted behaviour or stifle unwanted behaviour.

CONCEPT AND APPLICATION

Schedules of reinforcement are developed to administer reinforcement effectively, as it is significant to know
when and how reinforcement is administered. The two sorts of reinforcement schedules are as follow
Continuous Reinforcement Schedule
A continuous reinforcement schedule reinforces each time acceptable or desirable behaviour is
exhibited. It encourages, strengthens and increases the frequency of the sought behaviour. For
example, Fine dine dinner coupons of an excellent restaurant for a good presentation.
Intermittent Reinforcement Schedule
In the intermittent reinforcement schedule, the desired behaviour is not reinforced every time as the
amount of reinforcement given once is enough to condition the individual and make the behaviour
worth repeating.
Several types of intermittent reinforcement schedules are as follows:
• Fixed Interval Schedule
In a fixed interval schedule, rewards are granted in a uniform and predecided fashion. For
example, The performance of the employees is reviewed once in a quarter and increment,
appreciation certificate, reward points etc., are awarded to the ones with superior performance.
• Variable Interval Schedule
In a variable interval schedule, rewards are granted at random times, and the employee can not
predict the reinforcement schedule. When the company delights the employees by distributing
the rewards without any prior expectation, it leads to more consistent and stable performance.
For example, a prepaid trip as a surprise reward to the salesperson with the highest sales in a
year.
 • Fixed Ratio Schedule
In a fixed ratio schedule, reinforcement is administered after a fixed or constant number of
responses to encourage the employees to produce more output. The employee would associate
output with reward. The rate of response would be high and steady. For example, in a repair
workshop, employees receive an extra Rs.50 after repairing every 15 machines.
• Variable Ratio Schedule
In a variable ratio schedule, the reinforcement is administered after a varying number of
responses instead of a fixed number. The number of response varies around the specific average
in this schedule type. It encourages employees to deliver high performance. For example, a
salesperson may be provided with a bonus after three successful sales or the criteria to provide
a bonus may be changed to seven successful sales.

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that variable schedules encourage the employees to deliver stable and consistent
performance compared to fixed schedules due to the uncertainty involved in the timing of the reward. The
surprise factor associated with the reward keeps the employees engaged and encourages them to work hard.
Whereas in fixed schedules, the pattern of responses may be uneven, and the highest rate of responses may
only occur reasonably close to when reinforcement is usually administered.